Partners in This
by Ninada
Summary: The detective boys go camping every now and then. But what if something unexpected turn the day upside down. How did Conan and Ai end up in this mess? They are partners, right? even in this..  R&R!  ::Completed::
1. A Weird Night

Disclaimer: I do NOT own DC. Gosho Aoyama is the real owner, I am just an amateur.

A/N: Long time no see, well, here is a new story. It is planned to be totally different in its kind from my other stories. It will be horror.. Yupp, I decided to write one for the horror genre, eventually. But, if you didn't really get me first. It is HORROR . Well, at least I wish it would be since I am a fan of horror movies and so. Plus, I found that there's not much in that genre. ~Still, want to remind you, it will also contain romance in the background for Co/Ai. So Co/Ai fans.. Yaay. and sorry Shin/Ran, not really my thing. I also don't think it will involve any of the Black Organization issues, till now. Don't know what chapters will bring up. The first two chapters does not contain horror of any sort~ Just a prologue to what's coming up.

Genre: Humor (Just the beginning), Romance, Horror.

Rated: T for horror. :D

**ALERT: My updates won't be fast. I'm sorry for that but I do have school, homework, exams,...etc. ~Just wanted to inform you so you won't be pissed off when my updates delay.**

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><p><span>PARTNERS IN THIS<span>

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Chapter 1

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A Weird Night

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I flipped beneath my blankets enjoying the sweet warmth in this cold night. I am in that state of half-sleep, half-awareness. Unconnected dreams collecting altogether getting a fuzzy picture in my head. Trying to solve that vague dream, I was awoken by the loud sound behind me which prevented me from getting into my dream land. I cursed myself internally; why did I do such a stupid childish act? Switching on the T.V will absolutely not help me if Agasa is nowhere in the house. But again, I can't help it. I just got too used to his company that I kinda don't feel comfortable by myself. Again, I ignored the bothersome voices of the announcer on the television and got into another trial for sleep. With turning myself to my other side after warming up the latter one, my last attempt for sleep crashed down on earth. And by crashing down on earth, yes, it literally did as I found myself on the cold floor of the living room.

With that, I pulled out the wrapped blankets around me, feeling my spinal chord stupidly aching. Sure, I should have expected that. No one can get a restful sleep on a humble couch in the living room. I turned around, feeling the sudden presence around me. The darkness engulfing the room still blinded me, but I can hear the low breaths and I can't mistake that chuckle of—

"Kudo-kun!"

I looked up at my unexpected guest in annoyance. What brings him here, now?

"What are you doing here?" I crossed my arms, ready for my outburst. Seriously, who does he think himself, sneaking into others' houses like that and interrupting their peaceful sleep. Well, not so peaceful but—

"Uhmm..S-Sorry, Haibara. I-I didn't mean—"

"Kudo,"

"Okay, okay. I just came to check on you." I gazed at his eyes, skeptically. I couldn't see them in the dim-lighted room so I really couldn't decide if he was saying the truth. No, not that. Play on another thing already.

"Oh?" I looked up at the clock, it referred to 2 A.M.

"Really? Checking on me at 2 A.M, tantei-san?" I switched off the T.V and turned my attention back to his lame exposed excuses.

"Y-Yeah!"

"Uhh.. Drop it Kudo. I have a headache and I'm not ready for a useless speech right now."

"Why do you think I'm lying?" he still protested.

"Mmm.. Maybe, because if you really just came to check on me. You would be at home now already since you see, I am still alive— unless you just came to observe my beauty sleep. Otherwise, you would keep talking to me just like right now in your useless speech until you spend the whole night here tonight."

He stared at me for a second, then sighed.

I grinned. I knew that would come.

"Fine..Fine, I give up. I'll explain."

Taking a seat back on the former bed which is technically a couch, I smirked upon seeing his uncertain gaze.

"Enlighten me." I could see his glare even in the dark room, annoyed from my non-stop sarcasm. How I liked teasing him.

"Well—"

"Your time. It is finishing off."

"Seriously?"

I couldn't help it. He is just so easy and tempting to beat. But deep inside, I decided to quit it for a while. I can feel his infuriating aura on me.

"Just joking. Go on."

It was obvious he relaxed after my eventual truce.

"It's not something to mention. I was outside the house wandering, then I found myself in front of hakase's house and I forgot that he is in a convention so I decided to enter and stay tonight until I found that it was dark so I..well, sneaked in from the back door as you see."

"Ah? You even forgot that he is on a convention? And you say that you came to check on me." I smirked. Nevertheless, on the other side, deep within myself, I felt something that nagged me. I couldn't really estimate from where this feeling occurred but it left me with an empty feeling inside.

He sighed once again, "Look, um sorry. I didn't mean—"

"Never mind." I shrugged his words off, wishing for the uncertain feeling to go away.

Silence.

I didn't know what's next to do. I decided to return back the atmosphere, avoiding any new bizarre interference.

"But isn't it weird to make you leave your precious girlfriend and wander around the street?" The question seemed worth asking to me even if I was hesitating to blurt it out or not. I decided with it since he owe me an explanation after all.

I predicted that he would glare at me an oi-oi look of him and deny her being his girlfriend, and then I could see his wide blush lighting in the darkness. But what I saw was unexpected to me, as he gazed at me incredulously. It was not a normal one, I could see hesitation and something else I couldn't really assume its source; which made me think seriously to back off the question.

Another inward sigh I can hear from him. And when I was about to execute the question, he spoke up.

"Ran... She doesn't stop talking about Shinichi and complaining about his..complete disappearance..." As he started her name, I was about to tell him that I know already, what he was about to say. A strange mix of guilt and frustration came over me. Guilt for destroying his peaceful, perfect life. Frustration. . . I am still not aware of its foundation. Maybe the consequences of guilt.

I just nodded for him to continue as he brushes his pain off his shoulder on me. His long speech reached my ear in sporadic words like,"...get over me...can't...still..." I prevented a yawn from slipping off my lips, I was the one asking the question after all and it would be rude of me to stop hearing him. I was still nodding when I found no voice reaching my ears. I gathered my concentration back on him.

"Mmm?"

"Did you hear me?"

"Y-Yes."

"I really don't know what to do about that." he said as he placed his hand below his head.

"Ah... D-Don't worry. Everything will be figured out at the end." I said, trying to sound convincing. I tried my luck, hoping that my words would match his long speech. However, I saw him looking at me incredulously. I decided to switch off the topic immediately, seeking for a way out of this embarrassing situation.

"Umm... Want something to drink?"

Thankfully, he forgot my last statement. And I brought us some drinks from the refrigerator. I needed to sleep the most due to my small body needs but that thing waiting for me in the basement insisted on trying my best to keep it on.

"You won't sleep?" he asked out of the blue.

"No, I won't. I have an antidote to finish." I admitted.

He opened his mouth then shut it when he heard the word 'antidote'. Of course, he wouldn't talk when it comes to this point so wordlessly, I made my way toward the basement.

"I think you should take a little rest."

"And.. It would be rude of you to leave your guest alone like this."

I smiled.

He always do surprise me with his kind nature. Tongue about to retort, I held it this time.. Just this time. Maybe, I really did need a rest.

"Okay." I turned back to sit beside him when he switched on the T.V and started watching.

3:30 A.M

I admit, the movie was really exciting. Horror is absolutely not my type, and never was, however, this was different. I felt myself being magnetized to watch it. I flinched upon seeing the psychic killer exposing the hide-out of the poor victim. It was too traumatizing for me that my company took notice.

"Haibara, are you okay?"

I nodded.

"Do you want me to change this film?"

I shook my head.

4:16 A.M

My eyes are shutting tentatively, but I'm fighting with them to keep wide-awake. I can't sleep yet. Not now. Not in this time of it. I decided to rest them for a while.. Just a little while. Maybe, one or two seconds?

I shut my eyelids for a moment.

4:55 A.M

Fighting to open them back, I found two words playing on the screen; **The End**. I felt horribly angry. Yet, it didn't take much time since my eyelids shut again but this time for quite a long while.

6:00 A.M

"Conan-kun!"

"Ai-kun!"

"Conan-kun!"

"Haibara-san!"

"Conaaaaaaan-kun!"

"Aiiiiiiiiiiiiiii-kun!"

Damn.

I flickered my eyes open as the annoying voices kept resonating on my head. I came back to senses, feeling tired all of a sudden. I also felt a sudden extra weight on my head. Realizing that there's something lying on my head, I blinked then stood up immediately. I would admit that it was really staggering to me just like them to see Kudo, sleeping beside me while the T.V is still turned on. I slapped myself mentally.

Hell NO WAY.

I felt blood rising to my head upon our last close position.

"Umm.. Ai-kun?"

I turned to see Agasa with suitcases in his hand. Probably, he'd returned recently from his convention and opened the door for the little kids to come in. And they all seem to need immediate explanations before getting a wrong idea. I yawned helplessly while they kept staring at me.

"Why is Conan-kun here?"

"Yeah. Why?"

I have only one thing to do.

"Ku-uhh-nan." I corrected the name in front of the kids in the last second which made things worse. I was about to wake him up by his real name. And it made them hear it 'Ku-nan' like 'Conan'.

Great! Things can't get worse than this.

Kudo woke up, his eyes as red as ever. He gazed at me, still unconsciously.

"Ahh! Haibara-san called Conan-kun by his first name!" I can hear Mitsuhiko's angry voice from behind.

I really felt sorry for Kudo's confused look. But—well, I have nothing else to do. I shrugged.

"Edogawa-kun will answer all your questions."

And with that I entered the bathroom.

"Let it be what it be."

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TO BE CONTINUED...**  
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	2. Ordinary trip:Part 1

Disclaimer: I do NOT own DC. Gosho Aoyama is the real owner, I am just an amateur.

A/N: Yes, I'm back with the new chapter and I want to send millions of apologies to you for the late update but I was just too busy... So well, here it is and I hope you do enjoy it. I want to remind you that I'm still working on it. It's not finished yet. Any ideas are accepted. Constructive criticism accepted.

**moonstarELLE05~ Haha, nah~don't be scared. They're amusing, aren't they? XD I will try not to make it stiff horror for you. I hope you enjoy the story ;]].**

**Shadowfire10174~ Glad you liked the humor. The horror is coming soon, don't worry. :DD**

**Enji86~ Well, I hope I don't get much blood in it too. However, I can't promise you that :D Anyway, I'm still working on it.**

Genre: Humor, Romance and Horror.

Rated: T.

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><p><span>PARTNERS IN THIS<span>

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Chapter 2

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Ordinary Trip (Part 1)

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"SURPRISE!"

These were Agasa's words after the longest explanation Conan has ever made in his life. He sighed and settled on the nearest couch behind him. Having felt comfortable, he put his hands under his chin, already bored of the coming surprise. On the contrary, the other three kids jumped enthusiastically upon hearing the latter words. Conan raised a brow, confused by his thoughts. They should have matured by now. It's been so long since they met. And now, they grew up at least for a bit. He shrugged off the funny thought and tried to concentrate on what they are saying beside him.

_Damn!_

He cursed under his breath. He should have slept earlier than that. He fully understood that he can't still be in denial and stay still for a long time in this small body. Oh, how he missed being an adult once more. Speaking of which, where is she?_  
><em>

Conan looked around, searching with his eyes for Ai. He was too lazy to stand on his feet just for the sake of plain curiosity. She is probably doing something, somewhere in the house. Sure, after leaving him to face all their questions. What a childish act of her.

He chuckled at his thoughts.

"Let's go!"

Conan tilted his head toward the detective boys and the old scientist, "Come again?"

"Conan-kun. Let's go!" The kids said heading for the front door of the house.

"Wait—Go where?"

It was no good sign with the pleasure and ecstasy seen glimmering in their eyes. Conan face-palmed himself, 'Nah, it can't be we're going anywhere idiotic at that time. It's still—'

"Camping!" The three kids answered in unison, making Conan flinch at their shout while smashing all his hopes down.

"But—"

"Where's Ai-chan?" Ayumi asked, searching for her in the room.

"I—"

"She's probably in her room. Let's go bring her!"

Conan slapped himself. How he needed to sleep so bad. And now they are going to drag Haibara along with them. And that was one another not so good thing to do in the early morning. To drag the evil-eyed yawny girl at 6A.M just to go for camping with a team of little kids to play hide and seek, and search for treasure.

"Haibara-san!"

"Ai-chan!"

"Oi kids, I think we should—"

"Hakase, you can't tell us to leave Ai-chan alone by herself the whole day. She's also our friend!" Ayumi protested with a brave heart, pushing away any trial for giving up on the missing girl. As Mitsuhiko and Genta nodded in insistence, Agasa scratched the back of his head embarrassingly. He wouldn't have thought he would lose to even these little kids.

"If you say so, she's in her room, I guess." he spoke up eventually after seeing the look in their eyes. At least Ai would do the same to cheer them up, she is not that cold anymore. Or so he hoped.

"Who will go tell her?"

They looked at each other. It was obvious that everybody wanted her to join them in their trip, however, nobody wanted to get in her room to disturb whatsoever she was doing for an unknown reason.

Conan would have gotten into a sequel of laughter if he hadn't been so sleepy at that moment. But the fact that the kids are afraid to enter Ai's room was enough to make him chortle.

"Ayumi has an idea!" Ayumi declared cheerfully.

"What?" They turned their attention to her.

"We'll make a toss."

Conan stared at them in disbelief. Are they really going to make a toss to choose who's going to enter Haibara's room. He couldn't help but laugh hysterically bringing their attention back at him.

"What's so funny, Conan-kun?" Mitsuhko asked, confused.

"N-Nothing. I-It's... Just so funny how you all guys are afraid to enter her room like that."

"Okay then. We have the solution; Conan-kun will do it!" Ayumi exclaimed happily. Genta and Mitsuhiko nodded in agreement. Realizing what had just happened, Conan blinked and turned to them, "Ehh?.. What do you mean? Why me?"

"You said it's so ridiculous to make a toss so we just agreed to your idea and you are going to wake her up instead of the toss." Mitsuhiko explained, grinning mischievously.

"Or, are you afraid of something?" Genta added playfully.

"Of course not. You're exaggerating things. I will go and nothing will happen." Conan said swallowing his pride, rather reassuring himself with these words.

He headed for the corridor, where her room was. The door was closed for sure. He held the door knob lowering it soundlessly. He gulped and took a deep breath then opened the door and entered. It was so dark as he blinked, getting used to the darkness. She must be sleeping. Somehow, he felt pity on her so he half-closed the door a bit to keep the dim-light of the room. Everything seemed tidy in her room, except for Ai's figure sleeping on her bed. She was not even covered with her blankets. Certainly, she should have been tired from the last night just like him if not more. A pang of guilt overflowed him, seeing her peaceful serene face. She's not that mean after all for all of them to be afraid of.

Conan felt himself staring at her for a second. Without realization, he found himself covering her with the blankets instead of waking her up. The scene of the cozy warm bed made him feel warm and hypnotized. He sat at the edge of the bed, not knowing what to do.

"Haibara," he called her in a barely audible sound.

"Haibara.."

"..."

Of course, how does he wait for her to wake up while he is hissing like that. Suddenly, he felt a warm feeling on his chest. As he turned to look at her, she was hugging him. Obviously, instead of the pillow beneath him. Conan felt himself flushing. The strawberry scent of her hair reaching his strain, causing a strange glint of comfy.

"Haibara."

He tapped on her shoulder gently.

"Miyano.."

"Uhh.."

Opening her eyes softly, Ai felt something heart-beating in her ears. A warm feeling engulfing through her skin, but that was not ordinary from the pillow.

"Umm.. Haibara, are you awake yet?"

Ai widened her eyes suddenly. She rose up, realizing from where did the warm feeling come from. Feeling flustered all of a sudden, Ai opened her mouth to speak but nothing was sensible came out, "Ehh...I-.."

Conan scratched his head embarrassingly.

"Umm.. Sorry about that." he got out of her bed immediately. He didn't know what exactly to say in the situation. At the same time, surprise has caught him. He did expect a slap on his face or something like that from her. But to his astonishment, he could notice some kind of blush before she succeeded in hiding it. She was almost apologizing if not for the loss of words on her mouth.

Remembering what he was here to do in the first place, he sighed. That was definitely a difficult mission to accomplish. Waking her up from her sleep just to convince her going with them to a silly trip was not that easy. It's not like he did want to go with them either but well, he just found himself into it.

"What are you doing here?"

Here it comes, she should have awoken from the confusion state. Now the difficult step.

"Well.. the professor and the kids told me to tell you that we should be going now to that campin—"

"Are you kidding me? You are waking me up just for a lam—"

"Hey, listen to me. I don't want to go to that trip either, but you as well as I know that we should accept reality and act as normal kids just like them. I'm sorry if I was the reason you didn't sleep yesterday."

She looked at him for a moment.

"It's okay." she sighed in surrender. He always has a way to get through her.

"Fine."

.

Conan got out, a proud grin took place on his face.

"Did she say yes?" The kids asked in unison.

"Fine, I'm coming." Ai came out from behind him.

Hearing the words out of her mouth, the kids cheered up, collecting their things and putting them in the trunk of the car.

"Hey, I didn't bring my things yet." Ai exclaimed, as they all got out of the house.

"We did!"

She couldn't help but smile at the enthusiasm filling the kids spirits. It was something bracing to see at the beginning of a long day.

Little did she know what that trip would bring to them— Because if she had known, she would've never left the house.

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TO BE CONTINUED...


	3. Ordinary trip:Part 2

Disclaimer: I do NOT own DC. Gosho Aoyama is the real owner, I am just an amateur.

Thanks to all of who reviewed: **Enji86, furin-a, Claude le noctambule, Part-time Dreamer, moonstarELLE05 **and** Shadowfire10174** . I really appreciate them all and hope that you'd like and keep reviewing the story. Enjoy!

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><p>PARTNERS IN THIS<p>

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Chapter 3

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Ordinary Trip (Part 2)

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On an overcast cold day in December, a loud voice was heard in front of the Professor's residence shouting, "Come on! We'll be late."

"Oh really? Late for what exactly?" Conan rolled his eyes, feeling sleep slipping once again within his eyes. It was so cold that he could see the vapor coming out of his mouth while breathing.

Feeling Haibara's evil-eyed glare on him, he turned to face her.

"What?" he asked defensively.

"You don't have the right to complain. You are the one who dragged us here with them."

"Oi.. What's with your mood? One moment up, another down?"

"You don't know what's hidden till it resurface.. Then if something goes wrong, you wouldn't be that down, getting used to it."

"You know, you don't have to be that pessimistic."

Haibara waved her hand nonchalantly and passed by him. Conan stared at her for a second.

"She will never change, will she?"

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Under the sun lustrous light, a yellow beetle was making its way through the rugged roads on the sand. It was indeed a magnificent view to see the greensward on both sides enfolding you inside the rough road which almost contained nobody but that yellow beetle crawling. Nevertheless, two were destitute of watching and admiring the beautiful scenery because they were busy doing something else more important. They were sleeping. Contrarily, Ayumi, Mitsuhiku and Genta stared out of the window gleefully.

Contented with feeling of the refreshing air which blows her hair off, Ayumi exclaimed happily, "This is just so great. It is gonna be a great trip!"

As her eyes fell ahead of her, her face was crestfallen. She observed Ai and Conan fast asleep as if they were in a cozy bed, not feeling of any surrounding.

"I wish Ai-kun and Conan-kun could have enjoyed this beautiful scene with us." she pointed out, sadly.

"Don't worry, Ayumi-chan. They are just a bit tired." Mitsuhiku said, trying to bring back her jovial nature. And he succeeded in that since she turned back to the window beside her, smiling placidly. He also smiled in turn at his obvious success, a slight unnoticeable blush appearing on his cheeks. From the front, Agasa looked at them through the mirror. He couldn't resist the urge to grin. "Little kids!" he muttered, airily.

"Na..hmph.."

Looking at the seat beside him, he saw Conan mumbling something in his sleep while Ai's head is resting on his. His grin grew wider as he muttered, "Big kids! Ha ha ha!"

"Hakase, what are you laughing at?" Genta then asked out of the blue.

"Ehh? I-I didn't laugh, did I?" he stuttered embarrassingly.

.

After wakening the adult kids up, Agasa got out of the car with them. Ai was still a bit dizzy of her last tiresome sleep whereas, Conan kept looking around, examining the surroundings confusedly.

"Ehh? Professor.. Where's the camp site? Don't tell me we're going to camp here!" Conan inquired, worriedly. Indeed, it was not a place to stay in for a complete 10 minutes. Seeing the sand ground still under their feet and the forest on both sides, Haibara grew more cautious.

"Noway! Don't tell me the damn car broke down again!" she yelled, almost disbelieving the grueling truth. As a reply, Professor Agasa switched his eyes between them both and scratched his head anxiously. And that was one bad sign. It just confirmed their suspicions more.

Understanding his unspoken words, Ai crossed her arms against her chest, annoyingly.

Silence.

"Now, where are the kids?" Conan spoke up eventually.

"They fell asleep about 15 minutes ago after singing and playing games the whole time." Agasa answered.

"Uhh..Great. Now, we'll have to bring a loudspeaker to wake Kojima-kun up." she retorted then turned nervously towards the car.

"Don't be upset of her. She didn't want to come here at the first place so she's just a bit exhausted." Conan reassured him as he saw Agasa's anxious eyes.

"Yeah, yeah, I am no-"

"So.. What do we do now?" she returned back to face them, her face seemed to be calm once more.

"I guess we have nothing to do but wait for any car to pass by us." Conan replied, taking a quick glance on his watch. It's getting later, he observed.

"You really do think a car would stop for us in such a high way?" Ai raised a brow, knowing that it would be a miracle if a sane person stopped by.

"Any better solution?" he asked firmly. Ai opened her mouth then shut it subsequently. He was absolutely right. After all, her pessimism won't help solve their situation in anyway.

Silence.. Except from the wheeling sound of the speeding cars with the winds, and the sound of Conan's foot hitting the ground constantly.

"Could you please stop this? It's getting on my nerves!" Haibara exclaimed.

"Well,"

"Anyway, you should get to buy another car than this mess, professor." Conan chuckled, trying to remove the tense.

"I-"

"Kudo-kun, look!"

Conan turned to where Haibara was pointing at. A car eased off its acceleration and parked beside their useless car.

"Something wrong?"

Agasa sighed of relief as he started telling the car driver the whole matter, hoping that he could help them in any possible way while Ai began to waken the kids up. On the other hand, Conan furrowed his brows thoughtfully. There was something not pleasant on his mind. Noticing his odd behavior, Ai went straight to him. He didn't seem satisfied with the solution.

"Kudo, what's with that look?" She asked, aware the something wrong is happening. From previous experiences, that certain look on his face has never relaxed her.

"This car will not have a place for all of us." he stated simply.

She looked back at the car. Agasa was still talking to the driver while the kids standing behind him, worriedly.

"Look precisely. The man is with his family, you'll see there's a vacant place for just three more adults at the most in the backseats and it's too feeble to drag professor Agasa's car behind."

"Right." she confirmed. He was absolutely right.

"..."

"Then I will stay here till you go and bring help." She declared plainly.

Conan blinked, "Are you serious?"

"Do I look like I'm joking?"

"Then you've surely gone insane. It's too dangerous out here especially that the sun is going down."

"I won't let professor Agasa be left behind. He can't stand this cold. Plus, the kids are...just kids that can't be left behind as well."

He stared at her for a mere moment. Thinking of the facts Haibara was stating, everything was right. He sighed, "Fine, but don't leave my side."

"What does that mean? You're going to stay too?"

"Of course, did you expect me to leave you behind?" He smiled to her.

Ai rendered speechless as he left to tell Agasa about their decision.

.

After long arguments, Agasa and the kids agreed reluctantly since of the waste of time and the driver would just get annoyed and leave them.

"Take care of yourselves." he assured them, getting into the car.

"I'll come and take you as soon as possible."

Ai and Conan stood beside one another, hearing his latter words as they faded away by the sound of the wind.

Observing Agasa's waving hands out of the car, dwindling as the car started to disappear in the far-seen horizon with the descending sun, Ai felt a shiver in the back of her head. It was an awkward feeling... As though this was the last time seeing those waving hands.

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TO BE CONTINUED...


	4. The Storm

Disclaimer: I do NOT own DC. Gosho Aoyama is the real owner, I am just an amateur.

A/N: I am terribly sorry for the late update. School is haunting me and I can't find spare time for updating. I can't even concentrate on collecting back my thoughts. Sorry here it is. And thank you a lot to all of who reviewed ^^.

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><p><span>PARTNERS IN THIS<span>

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Chapter 4

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The Storm

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"..."

"..."

"..."

"..."

Silence engulfing the ambiance. Conan took another quick glance beside him, it was getting a lot boring whereas about only 30 minutes had passed. Boringly, Conan placed his hand under his chin once again. He couldn't even bring himself to sleep any more since he had slept all the way to their unpredicted destination. Haibara was settling in the seat beside the driver's in which he was seated. It seemed like she wasn't enjoying her time either, he noticed.

Having decided to break the boring silence, Conan turned to look at her. She doesn't seem to have that bad mood.

"Haibara.." he started.

"Hmm?"

She didn't move a muscle, her hand still placed under her chin in that contemplating manner.

"I am going to take a look around. Stay here for a while. I won't get late." He stated, opening the door of the car.

"Eh?"

As she looked at the seat beside her, Conan was already gone. Ai furrowed her brows, feeling annoyed of his detective stance. It wasn't the time nor the place for those look-outs. It's not like he is going to find a house appearing out of the blue to give them some warmth in that freezing night. Making things worse, Ai saw the glass of the car being drowned in the flowing rain. Soon, a rainy storm came along.

_Damn it_.. Ai couldn't find another word to describe how the luck has never been by her side. Scrutinizing hardly through the surrounding area, she didn't manage to see through the heavy rain outside.

_Idiot._

He was probably been all soaked under the rain by now. Having no choice, Ai opened the door of the car. She landed her feet on the ground strongly which made the muddy pond beneath her scatter on her newly-bought pants. She cursed under her breath. Just as the door cracked open, Ai felt her hair blowing staunchly, her teeth grinding up together. Dragging her leg along to facilitate the process of headway, she slogged her way down towards the trunk of the car. She hoped to find a useful umbrella in this terrible weather. After all, they were planning on a 'camping trip' and it would be unbelievably stupid to go without one. Nevertheless, Haibara knew pretty well that nothing was impossible with Professor Agasa.

She sighed.

Things can't get worse. No umbrella. No shelter. No warmth. No that stupid idiotic detective called Kudo Shinichi. Being all sunken after all that time in searching, Ai put her hand round her waist in irritation, not really having the least idea of what she was about to do. Would she keep calling for him in the middle of nowhere? Or would she go, search for him still in the middle of the nothingness?

She would just talk to herself.

"Where have you gone, baka?"

"Asking about me?"

Flinching in shock, Haibara retreated back quite a step. Realizing that there was nothing technically under her feet to land, she tried her most to gain back her balance, however, her attempt seemed to fail judging by the scene of her mud-spattered state.

Conan gulped as he saw the infuriating aura, coming towards him.

"Uhh, Haibara.. You okay?"

Removing the drenched hair over her eyes, Ai stared at the standing detective in front of her.

"What do you see?" She glared at him. He couldn't think of something to lighten up the situation, but help her get up after getting all mucky. Reluctantly, Haibara accepted his silent offer and took his hand, getting on her heels.

"Where have you been?"

"Why did you get out of the car?"

"Don't answer with a question." She crossed her arms, obviously annoyed with his solitude behaviors.

"I told you I'm going to explore the place."

"No, you threw out the words and got out before I even had the chance to speak!" She yelled.

"You don't have to be that enraged. Nothing had happened!"

"If you are blind, I'm now drenched in water and mud."

"Again, and why did you have to get out of the car?"

"I wanted to get an umbrella. Didn't know that Professor Agasa didn't even bring that." She looked annoyed.

"Why so?"

"Why what?" Raising a brow, Haibara looked at him confused.

"Why bring an umbrella? Don't tell me the ceiling is broken in that car also!" He put his hand on his forehead, disbelievingly.

"It's not. I wanted to bring the umbrella for yo-"

Realizing what she was about to say, or even had said, Haibara turned around to get back in the car, stuttering, "Baka."

Passing out in some other world, Conan stood there, still in a dazed state.

_Did she really get out of the car in the rain to bring an umbrella just for me? Nah, it can't be. The Haibara I know wouldn't do-._

Cutting off his sequel of troubling thoughts, he heard Haibara's call from inside the car. "You baka, are you planning on taking a shower right there!"

He grinned genuinely to himself.

_Or maybe I didn't really get to know her truly._

.

Conan was searching for anything useful that would help them in their stay that night.

"The umbrella!"

"What?"

"I found it in the back seat." Conan informed her.

"Why the Hell would he put it under the seats?"

"See? You oppressed Prof. Agasa for nothing." He ignored her question.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever."

"So, did you find anything out there?" Haibara asked out of the blue.

"Yes, actually I wanted to talk to you about that." He paused.

She gave him a quizzical look, encouraging him to go on. "It's been almost two hours and it seems like they are going to be really late because of the heavy storm.. The roads will be almost impossible to pass through in this weather..I think they ain't come till tomorrow morning. Anyway, I found a house nearby. I think we can go spend the night there."

She remained silent for a while as if reckoning the issue in her mind.

"So.."

"You think it is safer there? I mean, it's a house.. in the middle of a forest. Hello? You're a death-magnet.. Isn't that to be considered in your calculations?" She smirked, teasingly.

"C'mon Haibara. Don't tell me you're afraid." He grinned.

"I'm not."

"No, look at you. You really do seem frightened."

"Kudo, stop it. I'm not!"

"Okay, then. Let's go."

"Umm..are you-" Before completing her last inquiry, she decided against it. He would say she's a terrified cat once again. And he's unlikely an idiot when it comes to teasing.

The minute they got out of the car, nothing was to be seen except for the black, mist and rain.

"Now, that's great!"

.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	5. Hold My Hand

Disclaimer: I do NOT own DC. Gosho Aoyama is the real owner, I am just an amateur.

A/N: Thanks for your kind reviews. It seems that I'm kinda having a writer's block right now. I'm somehow stuck at some points but don't worry, I believe I will be able to get out of this soon so just be a little patient with me for some time. I'm sorry for such a long hiatus. But I have really no time to update. ._. Hope you didn't get out of the mood. ;)

Enjoy.

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><p><span>PARTNERS IN THIS<span>

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Chapter 5

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Hold My Hand

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"Are you still here?"

"unn.."

"HAIBARA!"

"Kudo-kun, just chill out. I'm right beside you." a feminine husky voice barely reached his ear whilst the rain kept striking over the only shelter, preventing them from soaking.

"Then why didn't you answer me?"

"You had called me for five times already. Can you manage to be less noisy while walking, tantei-san?"

Hearing her last words, Conan did nothing but mumble something in his mouth. It was right that he had actually called her many times but it was just to make sure she was by his side. What if they were accidentally apart in this forest where nobody knows where they are. It would probably turn to a chaos considering that he was the one who suggested going out for that house. Oh, right. That house. He didn't want to scare her but they weren't just going to gain some warmth in this cold weather, but also to satisfy his own curiosity for knowing who are the people who live in such a place. It is indeed a pretty interesting topic to see, especially that he has nothing to do on such a boring day.

"So you really think there's somebody there in that so-called house?"

"..."

"Hey there, I'm talking." she glanced at him.

"I thought you told me to be less noisy." He turned to her, a full smirk drawn on his face.

"Oh, ye—woah!" before realizing the cause of her squeal, Conan found Ai grabbing his hand strongly, then darkness followed after. And the moment he was able to open his eyes, he spotted their only shelter being blown away by the wind. Immediately shaking off the stun of the tumble, Conan turned to look at his company realizing that she had slipped in a more dangerous angle than him. He ran frankly everywhere, trying to light his watch over again to help him estimate the depth of that hole they had fallen in. But unfortunately it seemed to have broken.

"Haibara, are you okay?" He narrowed his eyes trying to get used to the whole blackness of that cavity but it seemed like even the moon light didn't reach through it for a little bit.

"Uhh.."

"Haibara, is that you? Answer me now!"

"Yah, stop commanding out there." her weak voice echoed through the whole place, making them to shiver spontaneously about thinking where they actually are. However, Conan couldn't hide the sigh of relief that slipped out of his mouth when he heard her voice.

"Where are you? I can't see anything and the bloody umbrella is gone. Dammit!" He bellowed.

"Don't freak out like this. You were the one who drove us here in the first place, weren't you?"

Another sigh cut off the silence.

"Anyway, I think it's my fault for dragging you here when I was falling." she admitted simply.

"Please, don't start this.." he face-palmed mentally. She had always felt guilty for everything she does, even if she didn't meant to. Anyone in her position would have held his hand and sooner or later, he would have stepped forward and fell too, ignoring the fact that his heart skipped a beat when she did. He felt an awkward aura overwhelming but soon shrugged it off.

"At least we're still together." he stated bringing up the brighter side of the situation. Nevertheless, the word came out rising some heat upon Ai's cheeks. Fortunately, he didn't see her shaking her head off, whereas the word left a fuzzy feeling on his tongue as well.

"Yeah..I guess." It was rather a whisper than a reply, however, due to the complete silence engulfing them it was echoed a few times, giving her a strange feeling of awkwardness.

"Now can you keep walking till I can find you since we can't just sit and wait for magical lights to pop out of nowhere."

"You know you can just whisper and I'll hear you. No need for such yelling."

"Fine. Just move." he stood up and stretched his hands forward, trying to make his way through the darkness. The ground was full of rocks as he was about to fall a few times. Just as he got that strawberry scent engraving through his nose, he felt a press of a delicate soft thing under his fingers, he couldn't stop himself from caressing that flimsy tempting skin until he felt a flaming breath.

After a brief silence, Ai finally managed to speak up keeping the embarrassed tone in, "Kudo, that's my face."

"Ah, umm, sorry."

Sure, he felt embarrassed after touching her cheek, lips and almost all her face like that. He wasn't even that close to her one day like that. Maybe, that's just the reason for his nervousness. Yeah, it probably is.

Feeling the embarrassing ambiance surrounding them, Ai turned back to that stiff feeling under her feet.

"Oh, there's something under my shoes."

"Hold my hand."

"E-Eh?" she stammered, not completely sure of what she heard. That'd be too much for her to bear in one day.

"Just do it, Haibara. We don't want to split again!" He was so concerned about the whole issue now. It's not just a matter of lame curiosity; there's something wrong, he speculated. This cavity had been dug by someone for some purpose judging by the inaccurate, sharp ground and walls. Again, the quivery feeling of their touching hands gave both an inner static. He held hers sternly, not thinking twice of letting it go. Ai bent down to touch whatever beneath which made the ground so stumbled. With one hand, she twiddled her way to that thing. It seemed pretty hard and long but there's a thin something sticking those things together.

"What is it? Did you estimate it?"

"..."

Feeling the sudden coldness and tremble of her hand in his, Conan got unease even though she was few centimeters away from him, her hand sticking in his. He felt anxious, being all blind about whatever caused Ai this trembling.

"Haibara.."

"Oh."

"Haibara, what's wrong?"

Her grip tightened on his hand, duplicating his angst.

"We gotta get out of here."

.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	6. A Few Corpses

Disclaimer: I do NOT own DC. Gosho Aoyama is the real owner, I am just an amateur.

A/N: Sorry for the long time, and thanks to all who waited for me. No rambling for now, just go on. ;)

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><p><span>PARTNERS IN THIS<span>

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Chapter 6

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A Few Corpses

.

Ai moved backward instantly, as she comprehended what she has just touched.

"Kudou, we have to get out of here."

"What? What's wrong?" he asked, anxiously.

"It's a dead body, Kudou-kun. A tortured dead body."

Silence leaped over the place as the two just stared into the darkness, on the hope that they're actually facing each other.

"How did you know it's tortured?" he asked.

Although darkness filled the area, she could identify that tone of his voice. That serious voice whenever he faces a case, or feels tense.

"The bones.. They are-"

The sudden unexpected sound made her flinch immediately. Taken aback, she tried to free her hand which was still in his grip, but simply, he didn't let go.

"What did I just hear?"

"A gun shot." he tightened his grip more on her.

"Great. That's great! I don't really know how to thank you Kudou for such a perfect holi-"

His hand covered her mouth, gesturing her to stop rambling as they stooped low enough for their legs to bend.

"Shhh.." he hushed her.

"We have to look for a away to get out to tell the police about this." he whispered in her ears, so as to cause the least possible noise. For the first time in that night, he was thankful for the rain and thunder outside to cover them up if an unexpected sound came out from them.

"So, what now?" She replied with a question that adds nothing to his expectations.

"Wait, we have to estimate the depth of that thing first." she suggested.

"Yeah, that's what I was thinking of."

She didn't know if she had just seen a smirk on his face, or it was just hallucinations in the darkness.

"You can let me climb on your shoulders so that we know if it can do this way."

"Hey, no." he said, not even thinking twice.

"Oh? I'm not that heavy, you know."

Suddenly, she felt his hands on her shoulders. "It's not that, Haibara. Don't you actually understand that there's a murderer right outside there?"

"I'm pretty sure I get that."

"I won't let you go out on your own like that."

"If you forgot, we said we'd estimate the depth." He could feel her trademark sarcasm even in here. Sometimes, he just questions how does this woman have those nerves. If it were Ran who's with him right now, she would have probably clung onto him. That is if she hadn't fainted from the beginning.

"But what if he was standing outside there, and you suddenly popped out there? What if he was waiting for us to get out of here? What if-"

"Shut up, Kudou."

"I know what I'm telling you. And I know the risks, but if you will count all the what if's, you won't do anything. And by the way, what if someone's actually here with us and we have no idea due to the darkness?" she completed.

A sigh was heard, he knew she was going to beat him, like every single argument they do.

"Okay, but.."

"Haibara, aren't you afraid?" Her eyes widened at the question, nevertheless, she answered without faltering.

"No, I'm not."

"Why?"

She walked past him, examining the walls of that cave or whatsoever. "Here will do."

He sighed. He knew he wouldn't get an answer from her if she didn't intend to, anyway.

"Now, how can we do it whereas technically, I hardly see anything?"

"Just sit on my shoulders, then try to stand up."

He leaned down, giving space for her to do her mission. After a few attempts, Ai stepped on his shoulder, Conan got on his heals slowly to give her time gain balance.

"Wow, it's almost the same. How tall exactly are you, Kudou?"

He could see her smirk even without looking, "Shut up, Haibara."

She took control of her balance by supporting her hand to his head, Ai straightened up slowly. However, suddenly she was about to lose her balance when she finally managed to grasp something. It was the mouth of the cave.

He heard her sigh in relief.

"I reached it." She informed him.

Before giving him the time to answer her, Ai was already back outside, soaked wet in the rain.

"You idiot! what've you done?" he yelled at her.

"I'm saving us." she whispered calmly, as she disappeared out of his sight.

"Idiot.. idiot!" he hit the ground with his feet, angrily.

Looking around her, as darkness resurfaces and lightening breaks in for a few seconds, Ai pulled her hair off the way of her eyes to see clearly. Her clothes dropping water everywhere. There's no umbrella. not anything to support. She walked slowly, her paranoia doesn't help as she turns behind at that certain feeling every moment. She was looking for something that will do what's on her mind. If only she would find that certain thing. But who would find it in such a place. Speeding up her pace, Ai ran, careful enough not to lose her way back to the cave. She could only walk according to her instincts. The light was so mere. "Ugh..this is a nightmare.", she hissed.

Unexpectedly, Ai tumbled and fell to the ground. "Uhh.." She murmured, as she checked her nose with her hand, she found blood gushing out of her nose. Mopping off the blood in her clothes quickly, she got up. But there was something definitely wrong. That viscous feeling didn't leave her hand at all. In fact, it's gotten worse. Her hand was more blooded when she looked back at it. Ai straightened up slowly, her hands trembled as she realized her clothes were full of blood. The lightening struck for only two seconds. Nevertheless, those two seconds were enough to let her step backwards and fall back to the ground at the scene. Ai knew what caused her to stumble to the ground, it was that rope. The rope that was pulled around this young woman's neck. She was all covered in blood. Her eyes wide open. Those eyes that lost their shiny luster, and all meanings of life but a terrified expression which brings a shudder to whoever witnesses this. The scene didn't leave Ai's eyes, though it was dark back again. Why is this woman shot if she was hanged at first? Was it the shot they had heard when they were in that cave? A lot of questions were flying around in her thunderstruck mind. She froze. A shiver running down her spine.

Crashing back to the awful reality quickly, Ai got on her quavering feet, trying to determine what she has to do. She tried to control her shaking hands. Ai hoped for another strike of the lightening so that she could see what she wanted. Few seconds passed before it came back. As if nature felt pity on the little girl, Ai got what she yearned for. Her eyes worked professionally, looking for what she wanted. She took a tight hold of the rope. Ai tracked through its way till the end. Nevertheless, she knew what she was about to do. The end was pulled around the young woman's neck. And she had to pull it off. A tremor ran down her body as the simple thought got in her head. Placing her trembling fingers, Ai reached the rope around the woman's neck, she tried to pull off the knot, but to no avail. She had no choice but to pull it out in any way. Cold sweat, along with the rain fell over her forehead. she didn't have the time nor the remaining effort to swab it off. She tried to widen the knot as hard as she could, her fingers ached in the process. Few minutes passed then she finally succeeded in her attempt. She was just about to stand back when lightening crept over again. These terrified eyes were staring directly at her. Ai recoiled. She stood back on her quivering legs. She grasped the rope quickly, as she was running her legs out.

Her legs felt so weak, yet she let the wind work it out. And she kept running. Running towards no one but the only one she wants to see right now.. still alive.

.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	7. On The Run

Disclaimer: I do NOT own DC. Gosho Aoyama is the real owner, I am just an amateur.

A/N: Special thanks for **danny-longstride**, **Aeryia**, **faiz1996,** **holmesfreak1412**, **Eternal Prodigy**. Also, **jB-the Deaf Bunny**, **FS**, **juniperfalcon17**, **Claude le noctambule**, **Questionable Answers**,** Part-time Dreamer**, all the **guests** who waited for my updates and all other **reviewers** whom I forgot to mention, Just let me know your opinion. :D I really hope I don't disappoint you and you won't quit reading this. Thank you for encouraging me in proceeding with the story since I was quite nervous about writing into a new genre. And I'm sorry if this chapter seemed a bit of OOC. I really tried my best on picturing their characters. So please leave a review. :)

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><p><span>PARTNERS IN THIS<span>

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Chapter 7

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On The Run

.

Ai kept running in the plain nothingness around her. Her breaths are betraying her, cutting up the serene silence around. She tried to keep her silence as long as she could, in order to get rid of that killer who's out there and only God knows who his next victim is. But it was all in vain. Ai got back to her feet, after she had stumbled and fell to the ground for more than three times.

"Da...Dammit!" she sputtered, catching her breath for a few seconds. Laying down her hands on her knees, she looked around to see where she had proceeded after all the miles she had cut.

"Oh..."

Ai was lost for words when she had discovered the astounding truth.

"Did I just…"

She didn't need to complete her question as the breaking lightening had already answered her, revealing the dead body drowned in blood again.

"What in Hell is that?"

Thousands of questions were running down her brain as she held her drenched her with her trembling hands.

"J-Just calm down, Shiho... Where did I come from again?" Trying to focus regardless her anxious nerves, Ai studied the area around. Suddenly, she remembered the scarf she had tied onto the branch of a big tree on her way.

"Oh," her eyes brightened as her memory clicked on, remembering the helpful information. She must have been in a great shock that she had forgotten about it completely. Finally spotting the mark, Ai decided to take the left route. As soon as she had started running, she heard a low sound coming from behind. It was something heavy being dragged or something, she speculated. She didn't hesitate but ran as much as she could.

Finally, she arrived at the weird cave they had first fallen into. Holding back her tensed nerves, she tried to keep her tone as calm as it could but unfortunately, her trial failed and nothing came but a clearly panicked low voice came out.

"Hey, Kudou-kun!" She stopped her breathing, waiting for a reply.

Suddenly the world stopped around her. What if he was actually dead? He was shot by that serial killer while she was outside, leaving him in there. But something inside her heart never approved of the idea. How could he just die and leave her alone in this.

"Damn... Kudou-kun, you still there?"

"You idiot! Where have you been? I told you-" He stopped mid-sentence, feeling the unusual tone of her voice.

"Haibara, are you okay?"

"I will j-just get you out, 'kay?"

Even though she wasn't in front of him, he nodded briefly. Ai never showed her weakness to anyone. But her voice now reveals that she had been through a lot in the past minutes, or hours. He didn't even know how long he had been there since she came out.

"Hold onto that rope."

She lowered the end of the rope to him, and made a knot to its other end with a hard rock close.

As he reached the surface, Ai held his hand to help him out. They both collapsed on the ground as Conan eventually, managed to do it.

"Hey, you okay?"

"Yes." she pushed off some strands on her head nervously.

"Where did you get that rope from?" He looked back at the rope spontaneously, seeing the blood over it.

"Haibara, what is this blood?" He noticed that all her clothes and hands were full of blood. Her hands were trembling along with her pale face.

Something about her made him anxious, he just wanted to pull her in a huge hug to reassure her everything was okay back again, but will she let him without pulling off a death glare, if not a mark on his cheek. Even he didn't know what was going on around them. Everything was just creepy, and he admits it was quite frightening.

"It-It's nothing. I just saw... it was a dead body hanged and then it is blooded. I mean, why somebody would shoot it after it... it.." she trailed off her words.

He looked earnestly into her aquamarine eyes which radiated that grey enchanting glow in the darkness.

Ai pulled his hand strongly, speeding up their pace. They kept running until she felt her knees unable to withstand her weight anymore. She collapsed down, panting really hard.

"It's okay, Haibara. We can hide here for a while." Conan found the place was suitable for such an aim as they were behind a tree.

"..." She tried to get back on her heels, but her legs betrayed her this time. As Ai closed her eyes tightly, she breathed in hardly, getting back on her knees, supporting her body on her hands.

Conan stroke her cheeks with his hands removing the remaining blood which seeped on her beautiful face, lifting her chin up. He whispered, "Look at me, Haibara.."

Ai looked up at him, preventing the cool facade which seemed to fall off completely enough for him to sense her instability and flushing face.

"It's okay. We're gonna survive this just as all the times we've been through together, I promise."

"We're partners, remember?" he smiled genuinely despite the sweat rolling over his face. She nodded briefly.

He couldn't stand seeing her in such a condition. It was like she had a trauma or something. He pulled her into a deep embrace, covering her face in his chest. Conan felt her shiver under his body. Ai was taken aback by his cordial action. His warm body -despite the cold weather- consumed her. She felt her racing breaths calming down and getting back to normal again.

"We're partners in this.", he whispered. His chin rested over Ai's wet hair calmly. However, something else caught his attention, other than her heartbeats. Another sound was getting nearer to them.

"Do you hear that?" She whispered, trying to get off his embrace.

He held her tighter not to make any possible way of chaos, trying to hold his breath, listening to whatever he had heard, "Shhh.."

The sound was gone eventually.

It was probably just their hallucinations from over anxiety and less sleep, he decided. However, Conan knew he was wrong with speculations this time, when suddenly he heard the hoarse voice coming from behind, "Are you lost, little kids?"

.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	8. Complicated Relationships

Disclaimer: I do NOT own DC. Gosho Aoyama is the real owner, I am just an amateur.

A/N: -Sigh- This was the hardest chapter I have ever written so far since I started writing fics! Honestly speaking, I was completely out of thoughts. Ultimate writer's block. As how to turn things out to come up with a satisfying chapter. I was actually challenging myself by turning to a difficult genre such as horror. I really appreciate all your kind, and supportive reviews! I tried so hard on bringing this story to a good end that does not let you down. So please leave a review telling your opinion.

On a side note: I was really glad I made some of you kinda scared. xD LOL. Didn't mean that literally; just the fact that I've done something. Though I guess I didn't accomplish the kind of horror I intended to. ^^ It's 12AM here at where I am so if you're the type who gets scared, don't read it unless it's morning. However, this chapter isn't much of horror. I said just in case you won't hate me. :DD So curl up in bed, get some snacks and go on reading. ;D

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><p><span>PARTNERS IN THIS<span>

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Chapter 8

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COMPLICATED RELATIONSHIPS

.

At an earlier time,

"Ugh, I told you this won't turn out good!" A feminine voice came out to be lost underneath the sound of the loud engine of the large Hammer car. It turned up and down on account of the tortuous road. Nothing was to be heard outside the sealed glass except for the loud sound of rain and thunder.

"Come on, Miyako-san. Where's your adventurous spirit?" said another man, replying to the girl who settled herself in the backseat reluctantly.

"Why would I have one in such terrible weather, Daisuke?" The girl named Miyako retorted back, mumbling something that couldn't be ascertained other than some useless cursing.

"Right? Aya-san?"

"Sheesh, she's sleeping." Miyako turned her gaze outside the window after seeing her slumbering friend upon which she calls; Aya.

A loud yawn cut off their argument causing the man behind the steering wheel named Daisuke to laugh at his companions, "Hey guys, am I the only one who's enthusiastic about all this?"

"Nahh, I am too sleepy, and you're being too noisy, Daisuke-kun." A dozy voice answered him which belongs to the referred Aya-chan who was just sound asleep in the seat beside the driving seat.

.

"Ladies and gentle men, we have just arrived. You shall now remove your seatbe—" Before Daisuke could complete his airy words, everyone was already on their way to the targeted house. He sighed.

He wanted to enjoy that night. What had happened to their mutual passion to adventures as before? Shrugging off his thoughts, Daisuke took out his handbag, and gripped his umbrella, running towards his latter company.

Gazing at the two girls and the man before him, he couldn't help but wander off to his dreams, thinking about that certain girl with her beautiful almond-shaped eyes, and straight long hair swaying over her back like the tickling breeze in a chilly summer night.

"Daisuke, are you planning on spending the whole night there?" he was awakened from his thoughts after hearing his friend's call; Taichi. He had decided about this trip with Taichi after all, so he doesn't understand what caused him to change his temper so badly, and let him stay silent during the whole drive. Even though Taichi was older than Daisuke by a year, they were always like best friends at school times. It's been so long since they gathered on a friends' night or something akin of that. That's why he thought of the idea of meeting up together just like their old days at school. He missed those days when they'd ride their bicycles together after school, returning back home. Sometime, he would give a beautiful Lilac to Miyako. The girl he had always been in love with since middle school.

Finally, Daisuke unlocked the house for the rest of his group to enter; that house where he used to come along with his family when he was a child to spend a cheeky weekend.

"It's been a long time since I came here!" He mouthed out his thoughts grinning at the reminiscence.

"Yeah, before that incident happen..."

Daisuke's face grew darker as he remembered his little brother. That was long ago when his parents had gotten into a divorce after his little brother had been reported missing. His parents kept accusing each other of their carelessness which resulted at the end in their current pitiful relationship. Thenceforth, Daisuke ended up —in a way or another— in a rented apartment lodging all alone.

"Hey, Taichi—" Aya whispered angrily at the man sitting before them.

"Well, sorry." Taichi apologized at his stupid remark.

"I'm sorry, Daisuke-kun... He didn't mean to—"

"Nah, it's okay. Either way, it's been a long while now."

Coughing a couple of times at the stack of dust which landed on his allergic nose, Daisuke retreated back quite a step, barging into the one who was right behind him; Miyako.

"Hey, watch out!" said Miyako as she was surprised by the sudden contact.

"O-Oh, I'm sorry."

.

"Dammit, I left my handbag in the car!" Taichi complained, huffing along some incomprehensible words. Hearing a giggle from Miyako, Taichi turned around to look at her.

"Your memory is getting more and more pathetic, Taichi, don't you think?" she playfully teased him. However, before he could retort back, she added, "I will accompany you… if you don't mind of course!"

As he nodded briefly, the couple went out after telling Aya, and Daisuke to prepare the dinner for them. Sure, they swapped some retorts here and there before the "Lazy Duo" —as they were referred to— had reluctantly agreed.

Feeling the awkward atmosphere together with Daisuke, Aya decided on starting a conversation with him. After all, they were the ones who're at the same age, and were at the same class at past times.

"Say, Daisuke…What made you do this gathering once again?"

"Don't you like it?" he asked, whilst cutting down some carrots in attempt to make an edible salad.

"N-No, of course I do… It's just.. It seems kinda awkward. Don't you think?" she completed, regretting ever starting that conversation with him.

"Well, I agree that things aren't the way they were before anymore, but we've changed, right? I mean you've become so pretty now.." his words were trailed off, sinking into the nothingness. Blushing softly at the latter words, Aya looked back at him with those melancholic eyes, "You, and Miyako… you both are—" Her words were cut off by the sudden interference of the thunder.

"Wait a second."

Daisuke headed towards the curtains, pulling them off. However, the result came frustrating as he found the curtains fall off in his hands. "Oh, I guess the house's become kind of creepy as those in scary movies." He laughed, and then turned back to where Aya was.

Staring at the former place where she was cutting down the slices of the cucumber, Daisuke went there to check the place by himself.

_Where did she go?_

He disregarded the thought assuming that she might have roamed off to the upper floor, looking for the restroom or something.

_._

Currently,

"Are you lost, little kids?"

The hoarse voice caught them off guard. Ai pushed Conan unconsciously of their former position as she flinched back by the sudden meddling. However, Conan didn't seem less surprised than her either. Immediately, he stood up before Ai, shielding her as if they were in the middle of a battle against the Black Syndicate. She looked at him from behind. Peeking from behind him, Ai managed to catch a glimpse of that stranger. Yes, the stranger. He seemed to be a gentle man; if we ignored that scar which covered the right half of his face, his unkempt hair, and those eyes of his which were bulging terribly that they could fall out of his socket anytime. Ai stared at him. So this will be their end. As simple as that; it will be too pathetic to spear their lives; the Great Detective of the East, and the former scientist who's on the run from the largest organization which includes the world's most dangerous assassins. She gulped, and pushed Edogawa Conan from shielding her and instead, she got beside him. Conan gave her that glare of his. She knew perfectly the meaning of it which was probably, 'what-the-hell-are-you-doing-this-time' look. She smiled at him reassuringly, as if she hadn't been running with him just right now.

"Yes, we were lost while we were playing outside our tent. Now, our parents are most probably looking for us." Conan said in the most childish voice Ai had ever heard. For a moment, she had believed that he was actually a frightened kid who had gone missing from his parents.

"I was looking for my friends too, you know. However, it's getting late at night, and I'm going back to my house. I could take you with me home till your parents come."

Ai stared at Conan for a second, "Hey, there's no way we're getting in there!" she whispered to him, careful enough not to stimulate the stranger's suspicions.

"By the way, I am Daisuke Goro." He smiled friendlily to them.

"Okay, we're fine by that."

"But our parents are looking for us, CONAN-KUN!" she stressed the last words feigning a childish tone.

"Don't worry, little girl. If they pass by this place, they will surely see my house out there and ask about you." he said, sheltering them with his umbrella from the dropping rain. Nonetheless, Haibara was never relieved about this.

"Goro-san, who are your friends?"

"They are two young women, and a man. They are about the same age as me. We came together to have a chilly night at my house but it seems like things didn't work out well. I'm very worried about them." he said, anxiety emerged within his voice.

"I think we should tell him." Ai said to Conan who was lost in his world of thoughts.

"I think we found one of your friends, Mr." Ai declared after getting no reply from Conan's side.

"Really?" he asked as he halted on the sudden declaration, Ai had made.

"She was dead..."

_"her..too.."_ Conan would swear he did hear these words from the man's mouth named Daisuke. He turned his attention towards him cautiously.

"Hey, Mr. what do you mean by her? Did you see another corpse?" his expression turned 180 degrees as his sharp eyes emerged that uncertain glow.

The man was in great shock as he stared at the blank darkness ahead of them. His torch lighted in his hand was shaking. Conan repeated his question on Daisuke's ears again, however, he didn't seem to hear him.

"Hey, MR.!" Ai called, causing him to turn around inattentively. Conan asked him for the third time, nonetheless, the answer he was looking for came out to be unsatisfying for him.

"What do you mean? I didn't say anything like that." he said, completely unaware of what Conan was referring to.

"I'd swear right now as a former member in a criminal Syndicate that he's not lying by the look on his face." Ai mouthed out her assumptions in Conan's ears. He glanced at her thoughtfully.

"You think he's the murderer of his friends for some kind of misunderstandings between them?"

"I don't know anything yet." he shrugged.

"It seems to me that his friends were victims to another killer out there." she hissed.

"If Ran were in your shoes, she'd have said it's a ghost right there. I'm glad you're not thinking such stupid things, anyway." he chuckled, then blinked realizing what he had just said.

"Watch out your words, meitantei-san._ The_ _Angel_'s gonna be angry if she heard that." she smirked.

"You killed one of my friends!" The sudden yell flabbergasted both of them, as they turned their attention ahead to notice the fury spouting out of Daisuke Goro's eyes. He was holding a lumber —most likely got it from one of the cut trees down there—. However, before she could realize what was going on, Ai felt a stern pain in her head followed by nothing but void darkness.

.

TO BE CONTINUED


	9. Speculations

Disclaimer: I do NOT own DC. Gosho Aoyama is the real owner, I am just an amateur.

* * *

><p><span>PARTNERS IN THIS<span>

.

Chapter 9

.

Speculations

.

Edogawa Conan

I was alarmed noticing the sudden change in mood of the man. He proceeded toward me and Haibara in a mere second. I couldn't hold back after realizing what he was about to do. I knocked Haibara down beside me to avoid the smash. Feeling the sudden outburst, she was caught off guard. I landed beside her on the ground, noticing that she's probably hurt.

"Uhh.." she blurted, feeling her head. She had some scratches, and blood was gushing over her forehead. She seemed to be fighting to regain her consciousness. Guilt began overwhelming. It reminded me I was the one who brought us into this extreme chaos. Disappointed that I couldn't help her further more, I turned around immediately to see our former attacker looking behind.

"Daisuke, what are you doing?" a feminine voice was heard from behind him. A young woman in her early twentieth was to be seen despite the moon-less night, her face featuring some kind of innocent beauty.

"Aya-san! I was looking for you." He ran toward her, extremely happy at the scene of his missing old friend as I assumed. It seemed as if he's totally forgotten about our presence.

"What were you doing? Attacking a child?!" she cried out, anger seemed to be clear in her voice.

"I-I..."

"I'm really sorry about that, little kids. Let's help you out." She turned to our direction; the reproachful expression turned 180 degrees to a kind, mild one toward us. I wondered how her features changed in one second to the ultimate opposite.

"I can help sterilize her wounds." She volunteered.

"N—"

"Thanks," I interrupted Haibara's attempt to decline. I knew she was just being a sane person keeping out from danger. However, I knew the issue was nothing related to an outsider serial killer who's killing just for fun. It probably had something to do with the little company we'd just met. It was a matter between these friends and I had to figure out before another victim could be gone.

I felt Haibara nudge me in the arm. I didn't know how to explain that it will be alright, especially, that she'd been hurt and it could've been worse if I didn't intrude. I gave her a knowingly assuring glance even though I knew it won't help anywhere. Receiving back her disapproving glare, I decided to move my attention somewhere else while we were proceeding toward the house. I tried to direct my attention toward the two adults walking before us.

"Where were you, Aya-san?" Daisuke's voice was steady and clear enough for me to hear.

The woman seemed baffled by his question. And I could see her features tense for some time from her side profile. Although it didn't seem too clear for me, I knew there was something wrong with her.

"I-I found out that Miyako and Taichi were late, so I decided—" I couldn't make it to the whole conversation, but I could easily assume that she went out of the house to look for them. Or rather that's what she's claiming to have done. Hmmm. Jealousy? She could be jealous of the other boy being with the other girl alone? The thought lingered through my mind for some time. However, what was absolutely clear before my eyes was the love glimmering from the woman's eyes towards him

So I guessed the thought was wrong from the beginning. And for once, I thought she was actually happy with the fact of the couple (Daisuke and her) staying alone for a while without their friends.

"Taichi!" the man cried out, obviously shocked with what he'd seen laying on the ground.

"Oh," the woman named Aya uttered. Suddenly, she broke down in tears. I could easily presume what they had seen before us. Probably, nothing more than what Haibara had seen. It was a man's corpse. Observing from afar, I took hold of Haibara's hand, and squeezed it unconsciously to make sure she's okay. In my peripheral gaze, I saw her eyes widening slowly at me. I knew it was completely off of me to do, but somehow, it felt the right thing. At least, that's what I'd thought at that time.

Regaining back my composure, I returned my eye to the two strangers. Aya was still sobbing hard as she knelt to the ground, while Daisuke was in some kind of a daze, rather bewildered. He seemed to be an easily-disturbed personality from my short time observing him. He was looking around. It seemed rather more paranoid than the normal. He'd surpassed Haibara in being paranoid, I chuckled at the thought.

"I'm sorry for your friends," I tried to sound more sympathetic, but it came more as a skeptical tone. I saw Haibara raise her brow musingly at me.

"Let's go," I stepped forward, cutting any other sort of weeping.

"Y-Yes." Aya added, sniffing hard.

.

We entered the so-called house. I was very attentive to any sudden movement around, careful enough to protect me and Haibara this time. I was feeling very shameful for what was about to happen to her even if she told me she was okay two times already. After all, I have known Haibara Ai for ages, and it's pretty observable that she doesn't show her weakness to anybody behind that cool façade of hers. Neither does she like being under the protection of anyone including me in the list, of course.

I scanned the room we had entered with a scrutinizing look. It seemed quite old. The walls were covered with that yellowish dusty color, and the door knob was quite rusty. I had that feeling of uneasiness, and judging by the look on Haibara's face, it looked like she had the same impression.

"I'll bring something to help! Wait here," Aya interrupted my chain of thoughts. As a reply, I nodded briefly. I still wasn't satisfied with those two people after what had happened to us.

Suddenly, I took notice that we are all alone at the time being.

"Haibara, are you... okay?" I asked her. I was quite sure that was one silly question, however, I intended on bringing back a conversation to get my thoughts off my mind. Being in her company has always helped me whenever solving any case. She was somehow, like a Watson to me. Surely, we should exclude the sarcastic, cool façade of her from the equation.

"Pretty much alive," She said, not blinking. She was contemplating the place, I noticed. Not getting much attention from her, I turned around to see the thing which caught my attention at first; the piece of paper which was locked with the terminal ending of the mat. I leaned down closer, having an examining look.

"That woman… what do you think of her?" I looked back at her after making sure the woman had left. Haibara has already settled herself on a chair, and her demeanor seemed pretty cool, as if we weren't running for our lives for quite some time. And getting no reply from her, I proceeded with my one-sided conversation.

"I think she's got some good manners. She seems that type of motherly girls like.. Ra.. n." I don't know why I was trailing off, but the smirk drawn on her face had definitely something to do with it. Sometimes, I just couldn't understand what was going on that mind of hers —No, scratch that— it is _all_ the time.

"Very few of us are what we seem, Mr. Detective." Her smirk turned to a smile. The words kept resonating in my mind for a few seconds until—

"Here, I didn't find cotton, sorry." the low-pitched voice of the young woman approached us from behind. Haibara descended from her chair carelessly. She seemed somehow less cautious than ever. I prevented a brow from rising at her as she went toward Aya-san.

"Thanks, I'll do myself." As expected from the Icy Haibara, she took away the box of Kleenex and the perfume out of the woman's hand, heading back to her latter place.

"I'm really sorry about what Daisuke had done," she started.

"I think he was just being extra anxious after we were missing, and the blood on her clothes had stimulated it..." she stopped, looking back at Haibara. I knew she was talking to me. It seems that the disliking between them was, sort of, mutual somehow. And the atmosphere was full of charge, I could feel.

"Why were you missing, though?" I asked. Aya seemed completely taken off guard by the question, as she turned toward me at the very moment, pausing for a second.

For a moment, I thought she'd turn me down and track the conversation somewhere else, but her gloomy eyes looked at me as she paused for a second then spoke, "I went out to look for Taichi, and Miyako." She answered simply, her eyes wandering somewhere else. I concluded straightaway that they were the rest of her friends. Not to mention, that Miyako was the dead body lying out there in the forest. My mind strolled off somewhere else, though. I thought about the first corpse we'd seen, well, rather touched, as Haibara speculated. She said it felt like bones, almost cracked. It can't be that Taichi's corpse; I furrowed my brows at the thought. According to Haibara's description, that was a corpse dead for a long time enough to be moldered the way it is. Away from all that, we'd just seen it exposed on our way to that house, not in a creepy cave somewhere in the forest.

"Taichi," She murmured, her eyes going off somewhere far.

"He was my boyfriend." She completed.

"I'm sorry." I blurted unknowingly. I must admit I was quite surprised by the declaration. It seemed to me that she was utterly in love with the man named Daisuke. Love triangle, ha? That puzzled my thoughts for a moment before I could collect them back together.

"I didn't want this to happen.. not in our holiday." Daisuke's words interrupted our little talk. I looked back at him. His eyes were baffled as he was going down the stairs. The sound of creaking proved me right, the house was quite old.

Suddenly, I remembered the piece of paper which caught my attention the first time I entered the place. I slapped myself mentally. How could I forget that? I searched for it with my eyes, scrutinizing the place. It was totally gone. I am pretty sure it was in that place.

Instinctively, I took a glance at Haibara. There she was, smirking at me. Sometimes, this woman completely drives me crazy. She came toward me, her hands in her pocket.

"Are you looking for something?" she asked innocently. I knew she had it the moment I looked at her.

"Just give it to me, Haibara." I said, keeping a gaze at the two adults chatting in the background in front of us.

"Keep calm," she teased as she gave the paper to me.

"I think you should be more precise next time." She whispered in my ears before walking away.

The paper I was looking for; well, it was rather the remains of something which was once a paper. It was the size of my thumb. It was obvious it had been crimpled before. Careful enough not to get their attention, I stared at it.

_**"RUN AWAY!"**  
><em>

Interesting, I thought. Who wrote this? And why? Of course, it had to do something with the massacre going outside. Maybe I was wrong from the beginning and it had nothing to do with the little group in this house.

"Whose house is this?" Haibara asked them.

"It's mine." Daisuke declared. I could tell he's still anxious.

"We've been friends for a long time, but life has separated us for a while, and Daisuke decided to gather us again after all that time. He also wanted to visit his parents' house to get it cleaned since nobody came here for a long time," Aya added. They seemed close friends to let her talk about him the way she knew him.

"Since you were children? Why?" I intruded, feigning a childish curiosity. I was demanding for something to help. My mind rolled back to the words on the paper. An instinct inside of me told that I shouldn't ignore the note.

"Yes, I and my brother along with our family spent our holiday here. But the last time, something bad happened..." he cut off his words sadly. He was lost in his own world. It was utterly obvious.

"Daisuke," she called him, annoyed.

"It's _going to_ be okay." She pressured on the word in a way that gave me a thrill. I remember the way she changed her attitude toward us immediately when she saw us. Even though it was pretty normal to behave kindly to children, still there was something about it that didn't satisfy me.

"Anyway, in brief, my brother was gone missing so—"

"Can we just stop the talk now?" For the first time, the woman appeared very nervous. I could feel her friend wincing at her ultimate change.

"Umm," she murmured a few inaudible words, and then cleared her voice out, "Anyway, we should have some rest upstairs."

"Yes, until the police comes." Haibara added nonchalantly. I was surprised at her declaration, but I decided on observing their reaction first. Daisuke's eyes widened in shock, and for a while, I thought there was rage emerging from his eyes. The woman's reaction was nothing less; she seemed a bit shocked but she was more successful than he was in composing her features. I admit that was a good move from Haibara. Things started to clear out in front of my eyes but —

"When did you call the police?" The man asked without hesitation.

"You were talking. Nobody noticed me." She stated casually.

I furrowed my brows, staring at her. I realized something. Things started to make a coherent image before my eyes.

We went upstairs where the rooms they lodged in were located. I and Haibara were in a room while each of the others was in separate ones.

Each of us has a complete different plan from the others.

.

TO BE CONTINUED…

.

_"Very few of us are what we seem_." —Agatha Christie


	10. Last Attack

Disclaimer: I do NOT own DC. Gosho Aoyama is the real owner, I'm just an amateur.

* * *

><p><span>PARTNERS IN THIS<span>

.

Chapter 10

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Last Attack

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I entered our supposed room prudently. Haibara was behind me, getting inside after me. It was nothing more different than downstairs; the same rusty walls, yellowish stained wall papers. Once we got inside, I closed the door behind us.

Haibara sat herself at the end of the bed which was settled exactly in the middle of the room.

"So," I started.

"You weren't telling the truth, were you?" I asked her. She looked up at me, and smirked, "Of course not,"

"But I hope I had, actually." She wandered with her eyes around the room. I walked toward her. She was right in front of me. For the first time, I noticed her enigmatic dark turquoise eyes; her hair was tousled across her face, the wound on her head was still obvious, which made something inside my chest churn. However, she still had that ambiguous aura surrounding her with that look on her face.

Unknowingly, I reached through her hair pulling away some strands which covered her wound. I examined it with my fingers careful enough not to hurt her. It was, kind of, serious.

"Ow," she blurted, her eyes closed unconsciously with the contact.

"I'm sorry.. I'm really sorry, Haibara."

She opened her eyes, and our eyes locked for some time which seemed like the eternity. And for the first time, I noticed how close we were just there. I could see her cheeks grow a faint reddish hue which made her appear as adorable as a little child.

"It's okay,"

"Just get us out of here soon." She said, moving her gaze away from mine.

I withdrew back quite a few steps, strolling around in the room.

"You figured it out, didn't you?" she looked back at me as she asked.

"Almost,"

"I just can't wait here any longer." She shrugged off, ruffling her hair.

"Let me get off my thoughts first,"

"There are four people; Daisuke, Aya, Taichi and another woman we don't know her name —but, it does not matter anyway—,"

"They came here for a gathering for the sake of old times. And somehow, Taichi, the woman, and Aya had gone missing and Daisuke came out of house to look for them,"

"There are two missing friends, but in fact we found three corpses out there.."

"The woman was found dead by you, and then Taichi.." I stopped, collecting back my thoughts.

"And only Aya and Daisuke are remaining.." I mumbled to myself, almost balancing the words as they came out of my mouth.

"As of the personalities, Daisuke seems to me as a disturbed personality, the fact about his brother gone missing lingers in my mind every now and then—though I don't know if it is even related—"

"But it has something to do with him till now judging from the bewildered look on his eyes when he was telling the story," Haibara added, helping me out.

"Like there's something he doesn't even understand.."

"But what caught me there, is the interruption of it that the girl made. It was like she was annoyed by the story to be told again." I wondered.

"As if she knew something he doesn't know… Or,"

"Or she's hiding something.. a little secret." Haibara finished for me.

"She's also very good at turning her emotions to the ultimate opposite. Meaning, she's a very good actor."

I suddenly remembered the piece of paper in my pocket. Getting it out and straightening it, I stared at it for a minute. Haibara was looking behind my shoulder as well.

"So, the corpse we'd found in that cave is his brother's, isn't it?" Haibara turned to me.

"That's the most appropriate solution for that part."

We remained silent for some time. Each lost in our own thoughts.

"I'm going to the restroom." She informed me as she got out of the room toward the other room in theend of the corridor. They had shown us a while later before showing us our room. I nodded spontaneously, getting back my attention to the paper and my puzzled thoughts.

I remember something that caught my attention about that Aya-san, the look on her face when talking to Daisuke; there was something about it that made me suspicious; pity, sympathy?

_"He was my boyfriend."_

_"It's going to be okay."_

_"Can we just stop the talk now?"_

_"I didn't want this to happen.. Not in our holiday."_

_"Very few of us are what we seem."_

_"When did you call the police?"_

_"RUN AWAY!"  
><em>

_"Very few of us are what we seem."_

_"Very few of us are what we seem..."_

"I think I figured it out." I blurted, and then I stopped looking around. Haibara wasn't there. She said she'd be in the restroom. How did I forget?

"But that means—"

My eyes widened realizing the stupid mistake I've done by letting her go out, especially after realizing what I know right now.

Without second thoughts, I switched the door open, and headed toward the place where the restroom was, as I remembered. I heard a loud thud coming from the end of the corridor. A cold sweat ran down my neck without noticing. I hope she's alright now. Running my legs out as hard as I could, I reached for the door and pulled it open instantly. Haibara stared at me, cocking her brows. She was surprised, of course. It was not something ordinary for someone to slam the door open in the restroom. Fortunately, she was washing her face; nothing embarrassing. The words were lost in my mouth. But I managed to speak, nonetheless.

"I heard a sound, and I thought—"

Before continuing on my talk, I heard another bump. I turned my face behind. There must be something. Thankfully, Haibara did understand the reason for my little unnerving act, and she proceeded with me toward the other rooms; the rooms of Daisuke, and Aya. I found a room just next to us. Switching the door open directly, we found the room was empty. I assumed it was the man's judging by his black jacket laying on the bed.

I turned as fast as I could to the other room. It meant only one thing. I decided to save the last one I could do. Opening the door soundly, I was actually expecting something like that. However, I was still shocked. The man was trying to kill her. Daisuke was trying to kill his friend Aya with that knife in his hand. She was hiding behind the table. It seemed like he was chasing her for some minutes, judging by the scattered mess on the ground, the broken chair, and the tears on her face.

What was absolutely unexpected the change in the man's face. He turned his face toward us; it seemed like he was an absolute other person away from that baffled, confused man I'd seen. His eyes hid extreme anger, and killing was clearly read in those eyes. I went to the pitiful woman to help her. Haibara stared, obviously taken aback from the apparent attack. She awoke from her daze quickly, nonetheless. She was looking around for something to be used with my enhancing kick shoes. The man was turning to Haibara now. Suddenly, I remembered the change gleam in his eyes when Haibara mentioned the police earlier downstairs.

"Haibara!" I called her unconsciously to get her attention toward him. She turned around. I could see the sheen of the blaze of the knife in his hands while he was proceeding forward. Damn, I won't let her be harmed. Not now. Not _ever._ I don't remember how I ran out to him, or how I got there on his back from behind holding his neck.

All I remember was when I fell to the ground as the man lost consciousness after I hit him on the back of his neck with my elbow, and when Haibara knelt beside me, "So, I didn't know you changed interest from Sherlock Holmes to Jackie Chan."

Beneath my gritted teeth, I chuckled, "This woman..."

.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	11. Maybe?

Disclaimer: I do not own DC. Gosho Aoyama is the real owner, I'm just an amateur.

* * *

><p>PARTNERS IN THIS<p>

.

Chapter 11

.

Maybe?

.

As Edogawa Conan looked out the window on his right side in the car, he realized that the storm had come to a halt, clearing out the azure sky above. It has become almost dawn. Of course, it would be so, after they'd been out all night in that dreadful trip. The scenery was irresistible; he could never turn his gaze away from staring, and as his eyes were glued to the rising sun, he found his mind wandering off somewhere else— to all the happenings which had occurred today. "Today", he chuckled at the thought. Actually, it felt like a whole week to him. He wondered how that has affected Haibara Ai mentally. It wore him out while he was actually a detective, and he had to get used to those bloody drastic cases. However, he thinks Haibara has gone through too much. He believes it was much more than him, especially when she had trotted away in the middle of the forest to bring some help. He almost thought he would never see her face again. And then she proved him wrong, and appeared out of the blue, smashing down his fears, her face was pale and her hands were shaking. Yet, she managed to pull herself together after all. He couldn't help but admire such a brave person. Maybe she wasn't that weak after all. She pretty much knew how to take care of herself when he was not around to do.

Then, those strangers came in the picture. He formed an idea from the beginning that the house and its residents had something to do with the eerie corpses. But he was hesitant as to how they would get inside without putting themselves through much danger. If it were him alone, he wouldn't have to think too much about it. But she was there with him, and he couldn't precede on any reckless unorganized step without thinking of a way to protect them under whatsoever the circumstances. She got hurt, nonetheless, he sighed at the remembrance.

Now, thinking about it, the truth begins to resurface in his mind with its proper logical arrangement. So, let's see from the beginning, that man, Daisuke; the way he appeared was disturbing, and pathetic to Conan. One time, he seemed shocked and sort of, lost, and the other he was so attentive, and kind of raged. And it was obvious from the beginning that the woman named Aya liked him and knew something about him, but hid it away; probably also, from the rest of their friends. The nervous glances she gave to him seemed utterly obvious.

The thought about Daisuke being the murderer was not purely clear, though. There were some defects in the hypothesis, and the little facts in his hands definitely did not help, as he had just happened to know those people a few hours ago. And what was it about the paper scribbled on it 'run away', why did the culprit write it? And what was the reason behind writing it — considering that he was the one writing it at all —

There were some assumptions to be held out. First, the writer might have wanted to warn one of their friends from someone, and to make them get away with his/her life before being killed. But then again, that means that person could have run away with that person instead of warning him/her. Why such an elusive way? They could also talk in person. Then, it was the culprit who's written it. It was either to really save the one who receives the paper, or to move him/her out of the way.

Aya's hesitation at Daisuke's question as to why she was out in the forest was obvious, arousing his suspicions. It must've been her, who had received the letter. Maybe, she considered running away, and that's why she was all-sweltered when they first met. Maybe she wanted to return back to help him, or so she thought she could.

"I didn't know what to do.. I couldn't leave him behind," was what Aya said between her sobs.

Daisuke had mentality disorder. Split personalities, that's the simplest expression Conan could comprehend from the physicians. He had killed his little brother when he was young with that evil personality of his, unknowingly to his other normal one. Maybe his brother was stimulating his subconscious inner hate toward him unknowingly because he was smarter than him, or better than him in a way or another. Conan wanted another explanation to the case, though. Something like a material clue before his eyes. He thought there must be some other logical explanation to the case, but nothing came out of it after all his speculations. And in the end, he gave in that hypothesis after he'd heard it from Aya's mouth herself.

The reasons for killing his two friends? It didn't take him too long to guess. It must've been something regarding money. Where large sums of money are concerned, it is advisable to trust nobody. That girlfriend of his must've had blackmailing him ever since they'd known the truth as who was the murderer of his unlucky brother, unknowing to his mental illness. The other unlucky man was either with her, in the wrong time and the wrong place, or he was her partner in the blackmailing. Too bad, Conan thought. That man, Daisuke seemed the type of such harmless person who'd be pained on the inside. But deep inside his evil self, he had the instinct of a serial killer.

The part of the 'run away' paper was to be easily concluded after knowing the main facts. He didn't want to harm the good friend Aya who had done no harm for him, to give her the time to run away with her life. He didn't know she had any idea about his illness, or the past murder of his brother. He didn't seem to know about his other killer personality either. Maybe at the moment he was starting to attack Ai was the point when he discovered he was the one who killed all those people. His good side was still unaware of his crimes before then; that was more probable to Conan as he seemed extremely sincere and shocked when he saw his friend's corpse at the first time. And how he appeared lost when he found out he was attacking the little child, Ai. But then again, Aya destroyed his plans when she changed her mind, and did not leave. She wanted to return back to help him, or so she thought she could. That assumption came to him after he saw how baffled she seemed when he asked her where she was. Although she knew there was something wrong with him, she was taken aback when she saw it with her eyes. He did not remember the paper he left for her on the table. If only she'd told a professional about this. Too many "if only's". But now, she kept yelping. The past was gone, and nothing was to be changed about it anyway.

Too much mercy often resulted in further crimes which were fatal to innocent victims who need not have been victims if justice had been put first and mercy second.

"I never thought he'd kill our friends like… that," she whined again. Somehow, he felt some sympathy towards her. She misbehaved in a certain situation which caused the deaths of her other two friends. Even if he was her love, they were her friends too, he'd thought musingly as he looked at the sobbing woman. His "friends", too, were playing with fire, blackmailing a murderer. Even though they were unaware of his illness, it was all wrong from the beginning. So wrong.

"Why didn't you tell him that you love him?" Conan turned to the voice. It was Ai's. So, she knew that she loved him as well, Conan mused. He should've expected that. Aya seemed taken aback by the declaration. Apparently, she didn't know somebody would have the least idea about her unrequited love. She sighed, and Conan could notice an enigmatic glint in her eyes as she smiled faintly.

"I…I didn't want to strain our friendship," she muttered slowly, staring blankly ahead.

"Stupid.. I was stupid," she continued whining again. But her image was getting blurrier in the background of Conan's vision now. It was Ai's distant melancholic look that stood out to him at that moment. "Did she feel sad for the girl?", Conan couldn't help but ponder, as Ai excluded herself away from any interaction till professor Agasa, and the Police came after the woman agreed to calling them with her cellphone. She was surprised to see that they hadn't called at all, after the white lie Ai had told back then to see their reaction. However, Ai didn't respond except with a mere nod. Of course, the stranger woman had to be surprised at her not-so-childish act.

Suddenly aware to his surroundings as if he'd been in a time travel capsule, Conan turned to his left side. He couldn't help the smile drawing on my face. Ai was staring out the other window, her hair facing him. He wasn't exactly sure if she was sleeping or not, though. There was some hesitation lingering before he brought himself to talk to her.

"I was thinking about today," he heard himself saying.

"Hmm?" Ai turned towards him. She was wrapped in the professor's huge jacket. It gave her a peaceful look of a simply tired child. For the first time, he could take notice of her bright hair under the gleam of the rising sun. It reflected perfectly on her auburn hair, and he found himself wondering what was the real color of this woman's eyes.

"I'm sorry I got you in this mess." he pointed with his eyes to her wound unconsciously. An extending silence engulfed between them. For a moment, he regretted ever talking to her now. Maybe she was angry at him, or just tired. But the thing that consumed him on the inside that she suddenly felt so far away. So unreachable. And he wondered if he'd done something to piss her off to the extend that she wouldn't give him some sarcastic retorts.

"Stop apologizing." he heard her words. A minute ago, he hoped that she'd reply to him, but now, it left him with a more nagging, uncertain feeling. Does that indicate she was actually angry, or she wasn't, or she—ugh, why does she always have to be so vague with her answers? why does she keep his mind spinning round like whirlwind? why can't she just give a simple answer of yes and no? why... So many whys he had in his brain that could've caused an explosion, not just a mere headache. But there was no such things in his head, neither a headache nor an explosion. How the headache transferred to his stomach, he'd never know.

"I asked you something earlier today—I mean, yesterday.."

She didn't respond, but he decided to continue anyway. Somehow, the answer to his question was something necessary. Like, when he investigates a case, and a certain question should be asked to the suspect to clear out everything. Stupid similes, he cursed himself for the weird comparison he'd made in his mind.

"I asked you: aren't you afraid? And you said no. But, you never answered why that is," he insisted. She smiled. A genuine smile— No, he was not hallucinating.

"Do you really need to know.. Kudo-kun?" she inquired. His name sounded different in her voice, he didn't know if he was being delusional, or just dead tired.

"Yes,"

"Because I am with you." she answered simply. The genuine smile on her face did not fade as she closed her eyes, leaning on the door beside her. A bittersweet rhythm was played by his heartbeats out of the blue.

His wide eyes did not leave her face, and suddenly he was aware the headache in his stomach was growing more. And no Aspirin would heal it, but who cares? when he was actually enjoying it.

THE END

* * *

><p>Thank you for the support, and sorry if the ending was a disappointment. I will keep trying for improvement.<p>

Story Details:  
>Based on - Detective ConanCase Closed  
>Started - 1O13/2O11.  
>Ended - O823/2O12.  
>Genre - HorrorRomance.  
>Rated - T.<br>Words - 18,363.  
>Author - Ninada.<br>Inserted Quotes - Agatha Christie.


End file.
